Chapter 10

I was drinking some water as I wondered how I was going to get privacy in my bathroom since it had now become a passage way. I figured that I could just put a cloth there. Ow wait, I am a Tamarin, I can just learn how to stealth through activating mana on the secreted substance from my scales. So I started by focusing on my hands where the biggest pores were and from where I could produce the most of the invisibility substance. of course nothing was gonna come out by focusing on it. Maybe there is a muscle or something that pushed the substance out. As I was trying to figure out how my unfamiliar body worked Mys Tara walked in.

'Goodmorning Frank'

'Goodmorning.' I replied still focused on my hands trying to find where the muscles and tendons were and how to use each individual one which was harder than I thought.

'What are you doing?' Mys Tara asked.

'I'm trying to get that invisibility substance to come out so that I can use the bathroom undisturbed.'

I answered still focusing on my hands.

Mys Tara laughed; 'Well that is an interesting application of a race's ability. I'm guessing you'll need some guidance on how to do that. You did get it right that its easiest to start from the hands.'

She then showed me how to do it. Turns out that the glands for the substance are hidden behind your ears protected by your skull which is why it is slightly protruding their compared to other races. By focusing on that part of the body my ears twitched and the invisibility substance started coming out. I then tried to activate it with mana which was quite hard but after a couple failed tries I succeeded.

'Good job. You did that quite easily. Next you'll have to do it with all your pores and be accurate with mana all over your body.' Mys Tara said as she hinted that we should go down the cave to bring the goods to Boren.

'I don't think the mana is going to be all that difficult. I finished a new manashield when I was in Jin and I still know how to make it. It covers the body with mana strenthening the skin but if I recalibrate it slightly it'll be able to affect only the invisibility substance. I can try to make it with the broken mana-shield but I'll need several of them and a mana-battery.'

'I can arrange that. Manashields aren't actually new. We've got quite a few of them here.'

We then walked down the cave.

'That is good to hear. Didn't you say that you were going to bring parts to Boren?'

'Yes I did.'

'Can I see them?'

'You can see them when Boren gets them, it'd be nice if we finished all of this as quickly as possible and get a move on things. There's been word this morning that Jin has allied itself with one of the tribes in the Tamarin Jungle. I don't know which tribe it is or how they did it but we need to go see and fix things as quickly as possible. If at all possible the day after tomorrow.'

We walked into the cave downstairs and were greeted by Boren. Mys Tara then opened the pouch that was on her leather belt and from it she took cables colored in red and blue and several metal parts. Then she stretched the pouch to open even bigger and a chair came out of it. As they did that they looked at me expectantly and just smirked when they saw my surprised face.

'What. How. Nooo, are you a magician too?' I said.

Boren and Mys Tara laughed at my reaction. I started wondering if I had said something wrong. Then Boren answered, that's an inventory bag though to call it a bag is wrong. Its more like a portal or a duplicator. In it are the base elements to make anything and after scanning items that you need you can use the inventory bag to duplicate that item and all other items you have ever scanned in. It is quite handy but the base elements needed to refill the bag are very expensive so usage of it is limited.

'Wow, I had no idea that was possible.' I said earnestly.

'Can I have one?' I asked.

'No.'

'Can I just study one then? Maybe I can make one myself.'

'We could arrange something so that you can see the blueprints which can be found in the secret files but that will take a while and it is not high on the priority list. Lets just say that you'll get it as a reward for completing this quest of peace for us.' Boren said as he went back to putting the parts Mys Tara provided to good use.

I tried to learn how this transformer worked but I didn't even understand what the parts were let alone what they were for. To me they seemed like just plain metal. After a couple minutes Boren was finished and asked Mys Tara to sit in the chair that she brought which was now at the center of the new transformer machine. A familiar voice coming from the machine then asked: 'Who are you?'

Mys Tara answered 'Mys Tara'.

'Would you like to change back or do you want to change to a different race?'

'Change back.' she said.

The rings of the machine then started glowing sending particles that shone brightly into Mys Tara's body. She then also stated to light up and after a matter of seconds the light stopped shining and Mys Tara had changed from being a Tamarin into a metal woman like Boren.

Her face stayed the same but then metal like instead of with scales. She had also shrunk so that she was a little shorter than Boren. Even though I was younger I was adult sized due to the Tamarin growing up at a younger age. This of course is so that the they can survive in the jungle easier.

It made me feel uncomfortable. But I'm glad those days are over now. After Mys Tara got out of the machine I went to sit in.

Then Boren said:

'No, not yet. You must first complete the request we have given you. We have a contract for which you have to be a Tamarin. You can't do much of a peace keeping mission if you change back to a human.... Sorry.'

I stopped and after running it through my mind I figured that he was right. I want to bring my father home but if my home-country is decimated by an alliance between Jin and multiple other races then there wouldn't be a home to return to. So I got out.

Boren gave me a sorry look, seems like he's been practicing using his face more. I guess they hadn't needed to do so due to the fact that there was nobody around here that payed any attention to emotions. Kinda like how I used to be, not caring about emotions and feelings of loneliness.

'Anyways I've learned how to secrete the invisibility substance from my hands and I've learned how to activate that with mana. I am sure that after I learn how to secrete it from my entire body I'll be able to stealth. But to make moving around easier while stealthed I'm hoping to use my newest mana shield to activate the substance.'

Boren and Mys Tara were quiet trying to figure out what I meant.

'I mean that I'll be needing some parts for it. I'll make a list shortly. If it is something that allows me to finish the contract faster you'd do that, right?'

Boren smiled, 'Good thinking, using more technology where ever possible to quicken the process. But didn't your mana shield break when those turrets shot at you?'

'True, but won't the stealthing be enough?' I asked.

'But if you are hit once while stealthed you'll lose your ability to stealth. We'll have to think of a way to prevent that from happening. But you should continue your training. You've got 2 days to be ready for the trip to the Tamarin.'

Mys Tara then took me by the arm and dragged me back to the training room before I could say or ask what Boren meant with 'thinking of a way to prevent that from happening.'

It wasn't like I'd get attacked on a diplomatic mission with the peaceful Tamarin right?

As we reached the training room I decided to ask Mys tara what she had prevented me to ask Boren.

'Why is combat important if I go to the Tamarin for a diplomatic or reconnaissance mission?'

'That is because if you want to be allowed to be a decision maker in the Tamarin tribe you need to be an adult. You are not an adult but you must first go through the trial to prove that. If you don't go through the trial you will not be considered an adult and nobody will listen to you. If you finish the trial within record time you'll be allowed one wish to be granted. That is what we're trying to do. This also involves combat in the form of hunting the Thornwolverines.'

'Okay, so I just need to beat a couple thornwolverines and then I can tell them to not ally with the humans. After that I can come back here, change back to being a human and go find my father in Jin.'

'Its not just a couple thornwolverines. It is one. We have a simulation training that involves thornwolverines so you can get a feel for them.'

Mys Tara then turned to the screen and selected the Trial from the trainings list.

The room changed into a jungle again and again there was a circle to stand on. So I did, within seconds I was hit and my health points dropped to zero after which the training area dissipated.

'See what I meant Frank? The Thornwolverines can stealth and they are highly dangerous. Just finding one of them is already incredibly hard let alone fight and beating it.'

I was still regaining my composure from the surprise attack that came out of nowhere; 'So that's a thornwolverine. You've been a Tamarin, how were you able to beat the thornwolverine?' I asked as I looked up to the now somewhat unfamiliar face of Mys Tara.

'I cheated, Boren also turned into a Tamarin and he assisted me while being stealthed. He had been looking for the thornwolverines for months and notified me to request to participate in the trial when he did. Our plan was to beat the thornwolverine in record time to be allowed to speak but the Thornwolverine was too strong. We had thought that it would be easy since we had found it prior to the trial beginning. But the thornwolverine is not only stealthy but also extremely fast. I was completely caught by surprise by its speed and Boren jumped in to save me. This was noted by the Tamarin and thus I was disqualified and kicked out of the tribe. I found you shortly afterwards. After finding you I put a note where you slept warning you of the Dragoon Riders but I guess you overlooked it. Now you know why I was there that night.'

We were quiet for a while. I was kind of shocked, beating the thornwolverine and finishing this quest seemed ever more impossible to me. Unlike Mys Tara I wouldn't have the benefit of being able to find the thornwolverine beforehand because I had to hurry. Then there was the fact that my men and servants hadn't had to have died at the hands of the dragoon riders if I had just woken up properly and found the note. The note probably got lost due to us being in a hurry and the servants having to clean up my sleeping quarters in a hurry. But there seemed to still be something that Mys Tara was hiding from me. If she wasn't able to beat it even after training here then how did the Tamarin themselves beat the thornwolverine?

'I know what you are going to ask and you should know that we don't know the answer to that. If we had we wouldn't have gone to such an extent to get to the thornwolverine. Don't underestimate it like we did. This training with the thornwolverine was made after we came back with the info about it recorded in our minds so this is the only edge you have. You get to practice finding and fighting a thornwolverine here so you won't be taken by surprise when you're in the jungle.'

'I just hope that this will give me the edge I need. Any other tips on how to beat it?'

Mys Tara stayed silent. 'You will have to figure that out by yourself. I gotta go, I'll be back for dinner so you better train and make a list of the parts you need for the mana-shield.'

Distraught that there were no tips on how to beat the thornwolverine I looked down with a frown and said 'sure, I'll do that.'

Mys Tara then left the room and I pressed the reset button again losing all the experience and stats I had gotten before but as I was told, those stats are not my abilities only a representation of what the machine thinks my true abilities are. Then I did the same training again which ended much in the same way. I repeated it again; and again; and again; and again resetting to regain my health points each time that I died and never did I survive more than a couple seconds nor was their any sign of any improvement on my part. So I went back to the kitchen to cool off and to make the list of materials I needed for the mana shield. Then it struck me. One of the parts I needed for the mana shield allowed the machine to monitor where the mana was being activated. If thornwolverines used the same technique to stealth then it ought to be possible to monitor its movement based on the mana that it used to stay stealthed.

I made a small victory dance.... correction an over the top victory dance. There was finally some progress, I had thought of a grand new idea for a mana-machine and this also meant that I would be ever closer to finding my father.

I then went on to design how the mana-monitor should work. The mana monitor for the mana-shield had a very short range and was specifically designed for the mana-shield. To be able to see mana I would need to change the mana-monitor and make it user friendly. But how? I had no idea... I figured that since Boren was so apt at making the transformer he might also have some knowledge on mana-machines that I could use. Plus I am pretty sure that his metal body is run by mana-machines though I can't be entirely sure.

I went down the cave and saw that Boren had gone back to deciphering the secret files in the database.

'Hey Boren, can you help me out with something?'

Boren turned around and said happily; 'Hey Frank, I was about to call you out. I figured out how to hook you up to the database. This way you can access all our race's information instantly and be able to communicate with us while you're in the Tamarin jungle.'

'Will that help me build mana-machines?' I asked; expecting a 'no' but instead he said;

'Yes, I mean our entire bodies are built out of mana-machines and so is that transformer; otherwise you wouldn't have been able to activate it right? Though we don't call it mana; we call it electricity.'

'Elec... what? I hope you don't mind me just calling it mana; much easier to remember.'

'Sure suit yourself but if you're going to look in the database for it it'd be best to know the term that you're looking for right?' He replied; he then pressed a button and a hole opened up.

'It is time to hook you up. Also just in case I will classify your existence within the database as 'classified' thus the Ancients won't find out about you being here. If they did find out we would be in some serious trouble; thought you'd like to know that.' Boren said with a monotonous tone as if he didn't really care.

Seeing as it had become a necessity and since Boren took the necessary precautions I just placed my right hand with the bracelet into the hold that had appeared. After which the rim around the hole lit up green. Boren then pressed a couple things on the screen which made the lights turn white for a couple seconds and then they turned off.

'Finished' Boren said.

'That was all? I don't feel very different.' I replied.

'Well that is because the access was given to your bracelet. So as long as you have that bracelet you retain your access to the database. This way when you turn back to a human you will automatically lose that bracelet and any access to the database. Nothing for the Ancients to trace back to you.' Boren explained.

'Sounds fair'; I then applied some mana to the bracelet to activate it and saw that a new button had been added to the main menu. It now also included 'database'. So I opened the 'database'. After I opened it a list appeared of files, Ancients, access files to things in the golden city and more.

Boren took my right arm and clicked on something that said 'settings' he then pushed a couple more buttons and then a hologram appeared. He did it quite fast and sudden giving me no choice nor a chance to respond to what he was doing. The hologram then asked 'may I help you?'

'Electric devices' Boren said to which the bracelet reacted with a long constant buzz which went on for quite a while.

'What is it doing?' I asked Boren.

'Its finding all files that talk about electric devices for you.'

'How long does that take?'

'It depends, sometimes just a couple minutes and sometimes a couple hours. This will allow you to train a bit more right?' Boren said.

' I have heard about the trial from Mys Tara, I now know that no matter what training you two did you were still unable to beat the thornwolverine.' I replied.

'You are wrong, we were able to chase it away with the two of us.' Boren replied.

'But how long did you train to be able to do that?'

'3 months... I guess you are right. Its impossible to cramp 3 months of intense training into 2-3 days... But there is no other way.'

'This time you are wrong Boren, there are other ways and I'm gonna try and do it my way since I'm most familiar with my way as you are with your way of doing things.' I replied with a smirk.

'So does that have anything to do with your sudden interest in mana-machines?'

'It sure does but I won't share the specifics until I am certain that it will work.'

Right as I said that the buzzing noise from the bracelet stopped and it displayed but one sentence:

'Error, too few search criteria'

'What does that mean?' I asked Boren.

'That simply means that we need to be more specific when saying what we want to find in the database.'

Boren took my arm again pressed okay and search. The hologram reappeared and asked 'may I help you?'

Boren then turned to me; 'So what was it you were looking for specifically?'

'Electricity sensor.'

The search result appeared immediately, there was but one file that talked about electricity sensors or rather mana sensors.

'Oh I see, smart thinking there Frank; so your plan is to detect where the thornwolverine is to be able to find it easier.'

'You aren't far off but that's not all that I'm planning to do. I am also going to beat it by detecting it.'

I pressed the file and information and schematics appeared on how to make them.

'You don't happen to have one of these laying around do you?'

'Normally not no but the mana turrets that we broke had mana-sensors on them. As you know your brain and central nervous system produce and use very minute amounts of mana and these mana sensors are able to pick up even that little bit of mana. The range is somewhat limited but within that range it can register all mana.'

'Then why didn't it see us when we duck for cover in that ditch?'

'That is because it can't register the little bit of mana from our bodies through the rocks that we were hiding behind.'

We then proceeded to the wreckage of the turrets and after comparing the various parts with the schematics shown on the bracelet we were able to find one of the mana-sensors.

I had no idea how to work with mana sensors so I left making it user-friendly to Boren since he had more experience in that field. Not surprising since he has been living in this tower for centuries, maybe even millennia.

I then drew up a list of things I needed for the mana-shield. I decided to use one of the mana sensors from another turret wreckage since these sensors were way more accurate than the ones I had used previously with the margin of error being so little that it was completely negligible while the ones I used to work with had a margin of error that was so big that if I used too much mana I would set my hair on fire.

After giving the list to Mys Tara I looked through the database for more mana-machines and through looking at the schematics I was able to come up with ways to improve on my mana-shield design which would come in handy since the schematics were of the parts that Mys Tara was going to provide me with. The size of the device became quite small too so I should be able to carry multiple shields on me and maybe some spare mana-batteries in case they were used up. The mana-batteries of the Ancients seemed much easier to charge than the ones that I had designed.

I decided to go sleep a bit earlier since I woke up way too early I would need the extra sleep if I was to make all that I planned to make tomorrow. If it all works out I might be able to test it a couple times in the training simulation against the thornwolverine and then if its a success I could leave for the Tamarin straight away. Its all quite exciting and it did help me get my mind off of things like the loss of family, the loss of my own body and the loss of my normal life. For the first time since all of that happened I felt content and happy to be alive.

I went to bed and I knew that I was going to sleep well, less worries and more good stuff happened today after all.